Crushjob's D2 Trapsin - Arc Totem Hierophant - Templar League Starter Build Guide 3.12

Hi, I'm Crushjob!

Welcome to my first Path of Exile guide.

I loved the trap Assassin in Diablo 2, and that build lives on through the Arc Totem Hierophant!

I've played lots of builds on PoE, but I always come back to Hierophant. The convenience of totems is really hard to beat. Totems give you nigh 100% damage uptime on bosses while you're free to dodge any big damage attacks coming your way. And Arc makes for great clear speed and it's really aesthetically pleasing to watch it chain around big packs.

If I missed anything or you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.

If you're on Twitch, swing by the stream sometime and hang out, bring any questions and suggestions with you! twitch.tv/crushjob



Leveling Guide
Spoiler


Use Spark until you get Arc and/or Ancestral Bond

Spark > Elemental Proliferation

Use Holy Flame Totem until you get Arc and Spell Totem Support

Holy Flame Totem > Infused Channeling > Added Lightning Damage

Get yourself a Frost Bomb and Orb of Storms

Here's how your early game rotation works
Holy Flame Totem lasts 8 seconds
Orb of Storms lasts 6 seconds
Frost Bomb lasts 2 seconds

1st, place a Holy Flame Totem
2nd, drop an Orb of Storms
3rd, drop a Frost Bomb

Now that you effectively have 3 DoT's ticking, you can spam Spark


Travel skill: Use Frostblink until you can get Flame Dash


Once you get Arc, swap out Holy Flame Totem for Spell Totem Support and Infused Channeling for Arc

Once you get Ancestral Bond on your passive skill tree, you can drop Spark, Frost Bomb, and Orb of Storms as you no longer deal damage outside of your arc totems.

Your next power spike comes in Act 2 when you pick up your Hex from Maramoa's "Lost in Love" quest:

Conductivity > Arcane Surge (don't over level this, pay attention to the mana cost required to proc) > Spell Cascade

In Act 4 you get a free Golem from Oyun after completing "Breaking the Seal",
personally, I like Stone Golem for the extra life regen (and I usually have an extra open red socket) but Lightning Golem is good too if you want a little extra cast speed and have an extra blue socket to work with.

You might start to feel squishy until you can get your Cast When Damage Taken > Steelskin setup in Act 4 after completing "The Eternal Nightmare" quest:

Cast When Damage Taken > Steelskin > Increased Duration > Stone Golem



Do a few Vaal side areas and try to find any cool gems to use. Something like:

Vaal Summon Skeletons - helps distract bosses

Vaal Haste - gotta go fast (movement and cast speed boost)

Vaal Grace - free evasion

Vaal Discipline - recharges energy shield, nice panic button when you take a big hit


I use these right through the end game
Vaal Righteous Fire - free damage boost

Vaal Clarity - We use the aura in our build and the Vaal active allows you to get rid of mana flask


Path of Building - Pastebin Link - PoB
Spoiler
https://pastebin.com/buKZSC9b


Skill tree
Spoiler

23 pts - Ancestral Bond
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAASzGjgnLyoTMPg62FnzWitmnnIPgpuEg4uMkFWiAKPyrv_AZsMT1abmfe8h-d0=


44 pts - Quick Recovery > Shamanistic Fury > Arcanist Dominion > Annihilation > Shaman's Dominion
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAAQHBLMFQhEtGjgfAicvKhMsnDD4MtE2xTrYQZZFR0WdTLNOrlNSWfNaK15dZp5yD3yDgpuD84SDi4yQVZrgogCj8qeUrhKus67_sTbAZsMT0PXR_dWm5n3r7u8h-d0=


53 pts - Cruel Preparation > Heart and Soul > Purity of Flesh
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAAQHBLMFQhEtFm8aOB8CJKonLyoTLJww-DLRNsU26TrYQZZFR0WdTLNOrlNSVcZZ81orXl1mnmpDcg98g4Kbg9uD84SDi4yQVZrgogCj8qeUrhKus67_sTa86sBmwxPQ9dH91abjauZ96-7vIfnd-tI=


75 pts - Arcane Potency > Throat Seeker > Written in Blood > Doom Cast
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAAQHBLMFQgceD8QRLRGWFm8aOB0UHwIkqicvKhMsnC0fMPgy0TbFNuk62Dt8QZZFR0WdSVFMs06uU1JVxlnzWiteXWaeakNyD3yDf8aCm4Pbg_OEg4uMjmSP-pBVlSCVLprgogCio6Pyp5SuEq6zrv-xNrb6uMq5k7zqwGbB88MJwxPQ9dH91abjauZ96-7r9e8h8NXyHfem-d360g==


83 pts - Coldhearted Calculation > Assassination > Trickery > Blood Siphon
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAAQHBLMFQgceDkgPxBEtEZYWbxo4HRQfAiSqJy8qCyoTLJwtHzD4MtE2xTbpOtg7fEGWRUdFnUlRTLNOrlNSVUtVxlnzWitd8l5dYeJmnmpDcFJyD3yDf8aCm4Pbg_OEg4nTi4yMNo5kj_qQVZUglS6a4KIAoqOj8qeUrhKus67_sTa2-rjKuZO86sBmwfPDCcMT0PXR_dWm42rmfevu6_XvIfDV8h33pvnd-tI=


101 pts - Crackling Speed > Sanctum of Thought > Jewel Socket > Overcharge > Instability > Infused > Deep Thoughts > Mind over Matter
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.12.2/AAAABAUAAAQHBLMFQgceDdEOSA_EES0RlhZAFm8aOBzcHRQdgx8CIG4kqicvKgsqEyycLR8wWzD4MtE2xTbpOtg7fEGWRUdFnUlRTLNOrlAwU1JVS1WpVcZZ81orXfJeXV8qYeJjQ2aeagFqQ3BScg98g3_GgpuD24PzhIOFMoV9idOLjIw2jmSPGo_6kFWVIJUul7Sa4KIAoqOj8qeUrJesqq4SrrOu_7E2tvq4yrmTvOrAZsHzwwnDE9D10f3VpuNq44Tmfevk6-7r9e8h8NXyHfem-d360g==


Gem Links
Spoiler

Arc > Controlled Destruction > Lightning Penetration > Elemental Focus > Added Lightning Damage > Increased Critical Strikes

Cast When Damage Taken > Steelskin > Increased Duration > Cold Snap

Vaal Clarity > Wrath > Enlighten > Summon Stone Golem

Spell Totem > Multiple Totems > Wave of Conviction > Vaal Discipline

Flame Dash > Second wind > Vaal Righteous Fire

Conductivity > Arcane Surge (lvl 11) > Increased Duration



Bandits
Spoiler

Help Alira



Pantheon
Spoiler


Minor God
Soul of Ryslatha

Major God
Soul of the Brine King

Spoiler
Feel free to adjust these based on map mods.


Ascendancy
Spoiler

Pursuit of Faith > Ritual of Awakening > Conviction of Power > Divine Guidance


Gear
Spoiler

Rare Helmet & Gloves
Base: Armor and/or Energy shield
Life
Res
Dex > Str > Int
Mana


Rare Belt
Base: anything but a studded belt or rustic sash
Life
Res
Reduced stun and block recovery rate
Mana


Rare Spirit Shield
SSF/Budget
Spell damage
Spell crit chance
Spell crit multi
Life
Res
Mana

Middle class
Rare Shaper Shield with +1 to max number of summoned totems

Rich
Void Battery


Rare Amulet
Dex
Life
Res
Mana
Spell damage
Lightning damage


Rare Boots
Movement speed
Res
Life
Dex
Mana
Stun and block recovery

SSF
Rare Scepter/Wand/Dagger
inc. spell damage
adds damage to spells
spell crit chance
spell crit multi
+1 level to all lightning skill gems
inc. lightning damage

Budget (1c)
Singularity Platinum Scepter

Rich
Void Batteries


Armor
SSF
4 or 5 link Rare
Life
Res
Mana
Dex > str > int

Budget (4C)
5L Soul Mantle*

Rich(160C-220C)
6L Soul Mantle*

*Must have 2 Kikazaru Topaz Ring to equip Soul Mantle


Rings:
2 Kikazaru Topaz Ring
28%+ light res
35%+ mana regen
These should only run you 1c a piece. Required when wearing Soul Mantle

Jewels:
1 Self-Flagellation Viridian Jewel*
17% inc dmg per curse should go for 1c
You can try to snipe an 18 or 19% for 1c but it could take a while. I settled on 17 after trying for a while.

*This jewel only works if you’re wearing Soul mantle. If you have an open jewel socket on your tree but are not wearing Soul Mantle yet, pop in something generic like life, lightning damage, spell damage, totem damage, dex, mana, mana regen, life regen, res, etc...
Last edited by Crushjobs on Nov 9, 2020, 5:58:14 PM
Last bumped on Jan 15, 2021, 12:11:54 PM
que tal estoy siguien un guia de arc totem por el simple hace de que me justa prodria subir el pastebin porque no me aparecen las imagenes
Did you already did endgame content er just starter?
"
Perzival3 wrote:
Did you already did endgame content er just starter?


I'm looking to take this to Sirus, I'm currently in high yellow maps working my way through the atlas.
Last edited by Crushjobs on Oct 2, 2020, 10:05:23 PM
"
Dazgar wrote:
que tal estoy siguien un guia de arc totem por el simple hace de que me justa prodria subir el pastebin porque no me aparecen las imagenes


Hi, here is the pastebin link, thank you for asking. I will add it to the guide as well!

https://pastebin.com/XHz3xsV1
Last edited by Crushjobs on Oct 2, 2020, 10:10:06 PM
Good guide, i would just like to sugest some stuff that you could think on maybe adding to the guide or not:

- Zealotry is a good choice instead of Wrath (very little more consistency on crit chance but a little less more % dmg)
- Arcane Cloak + Sigil of Power + Inc. Duration triggers easily Arcane Surge even on max level, and both grants a MASSIVE damage boost on bosses and animation-dependent events, its a VERY important 4L to have, you could try just to see it
- Vaal Clarity could be swaped easily by hybrid flasks or more mana pool (some tiny changes on the tree makes it really sweet), you will get 2 free sockets by taking out Enlighteen too
- Faster Casting is good on Flame Dash, but test it without the Faster Casting on higher levels and you will see almost no diference on QoL, you could instead put on this free socket an Assassins mark for boss killing bonus, or the conductivity curse or, my favorite, Portal for quality of life
- I love a CWDT setup with Cold Snap + Spell Cascade/Inc Area, it gives you ``free`` 3 Frenzy Charges (12% more damage + 12% increased cast speed), its not 100% of the time but its common to have all 3 up

So... You can have a setup like this:

3L: CWDT - Cold Snap - Spell Cascade/Inc area
3L: Flame Dash - Second Win - Portal

On the 6L chest i would suggest Inc. Crit Chance beside Power Charge on Crit, both are solid options, one gives you more damage per power charge (very good when you have 2 Void Baterry and 7 or 8 max Power Charges) and the other gives you a much more realiable crit chance, both are good but in diferent ways (like Zealotry and Wrath)

Now the 4Ls
4L: Arcane Cloak - Sigil of Power - inc duration - Arcane surge (max level) is insane
4L: CWDT - Frost Bomb (QoL against massive regen bosses) - Golem - Conductivity
4L: Vaal Righteous Fire (massive damage boost) + inc duration + assassins mark / Zealotry (or Wrath)
"
Good guide, i would just like to sugest some stuff that you could think on maybe adding to the guide or not:

- Zealotry is a good choice instead of Wrath (very little more consistency on crit chance but a little less more % dmg)
- Arcane Cloak + Sigil of Power + Inc. Duration triggers easily Arcane Surge even on max level, and both grants a MASSIVE damage boost on bosses and animation-dependent events, its a VERY important 4L to have, you could try just to see it
- Vaal Clarity could be swaped easily by hybrid flasks or more mana pool (some tiny changes on the tree makes it really sweet), you will get 2 free sockets by taking out Enlighteen too
- Faster Casting is good on Flame Dash, but test it without the Faster Casting on higher levels and you will see almost no diference on QoL, you could instead put on this free socket an Assassins mark for boss killing bonus, or the conductivity curse or, my favorite, Portal for quality of life
- I love a CWDT setup with Cold Snap + Spell Cascade/Inc Area, it gives you ``free`` 3 Frenzy Charges (12% more damage + 12% increased cast speed), its not 100% of the time but its common to have all 3 up

So... You can have a setup like this:

3L: CWDT - Cold Snap - Spell Cascade/Inc area
3L: Flame Dash - Second Win - Portal

On the 6L chest i would suggest Inc. Crit Chance beside Power Charge on Crit, both are solid options, one gives you more damage per power charge (very good when you have 2 Void Baterry and 7 or 8 max Power Charges) and the other gives you a much more realiable crit chance, both are good but in diferent ways (like Zealotry and Wrath)

Now the 4Ls
4L: Arcane Cloak - Sigil of Power - inc duration - Arcane surge (max level) is insane
4L: CWDT - Frost Bomb (QoL against massive regen bosses) - Golem - Conductivity
4L: Vaal Righteous Fire (massive damage boost) + inc duration + assassins mark / Zealotry (or Wrath)


Wow! Thank you for the insight, that's a lot of easy upgrades to make! :)

"
- Arcane Cloak + Sigil of Power + Inc. Duration triggers easily Arcane Surge


I ran Arcane Cloak on my Freezing Pulse totem Hierophant and I loved it but I had 0 mana reserved so it made perfect sense, I wasn't sure if it would fit into this build as I'm running a 50% mana reserve aura, maybe it's still better than Steelskin? Will have to try it out! Also, I had no idea Sigil of Power existed...That's exciting news. Ya know, I've been wondering where the lightning damage steroid is at...after playing freezing pulse and having frost bomb I felt like something was missing!

"
- Vaal Clarity could be swaped easily by hybrid flasks or more mana pool (some tiny changes on the tree makes it really sweet), you will get 2 free sockets by taking out Enlighteen too


Drop Clarity you say? Should I drop a few max power charges on the tree and grab Mystic Bulwark/Progidal Perfection?

"
- Faster Casting is good on Flame Dash, but test it without the Faster Casting on higher levels and you will see almost no diference on QoL, you could instead put on this free socket an Assassins mark for boss killing bonus, or the conductivity curse or, my favorite, Portal for quality of life


I've been trying out Lightning Warp > Less Duration > Swift Afflictions but it still feels slower than Flame Dash. Will consider switching back to Flame Dash > Second Wind > Portal

"
- I love a CWDT setup with Cold Snap + Spell Cascade/Inc Area, it gives you ``free`` 3 Frenzy Charges (12% more damage + 12% increased cast speed)


I will definitely add this setup! I've been wondering how to get frenzy charges into this build!

"
On the 6L chest i would suggest Inc. Crit Chance beside Power Charge on Crit, both are solid options, one gives you more damage per power charge (very good when you have 2 Void Baterry and 7 or 8 max Power Charges) and the other gives you a much more realiable crit chance, both are good but in diferent ways (like Zealotry and Wrath)


I was actually wondering what is a better support to run over Power Charge on Crit seeing as I don't have void batteries and I was pretty sure those are what scale that particular support. I will swap in Increased Crit Chance and check it out!

I'm already impressed with the damage on my suboptimal link setups, I can't wait to see what kind of damage we can juice from adding frenzy charges, Sigil of Power, max level Arcane Surge, and Inc Crit Strikes Support! Thank you for taking the time to help me make this a better build!




Last edited by Crushjobs on Oct 19, 2020, 4:04:35 PM
I love arc totem, played it during delirium, done all content simulacrum W20, A8 Sirus deathless, even halls of Grandmasters L16 (not deathless), however the only content that a could not done was uber atziri. her AoE fire damage was too much to sustain.
As you see, the gem setup is different, i use two golems (Damage and life), other things for QoL like phase run was very important to dodge boss (especially Sirus). Devoto for speed and chaos res. Everything for comfort play :)

Here what it was, maybe it will be interesting to look:
There once was an exile who found a map of infinite doctors.
Last edited by Programysh on Oct 15, 2020, 10:48:32 AM
Why do we run a PCoC on the totems? Doesn't that just grant them a power charge? and totems have a max charges of 0?
"
Programysh wrote:
I love arc totem, played it during delirium, done all content simulacrum W20, A8 Sirus deathless, even halls of Grandmasters L16 (not deathless), however the only content that a could not done was uber atziri. her AoE fire damage was too much to sustain.
As you see, the gem setup is different, i use two golems (Damage and life), other things for QoL like phase run was very important to dodge boss (especially Sirus). Devoto for speed and chaos res. Everything for comfort play :)

Here what it was, maybe it will be interesting to look:


Great to know arc totems can handle A8 Sirus!

Your build looks killer! I'm loving the idea of Atziri's Reflection and Essence Worm... I need to look into getting that setup! I've got a few questions for ya, would love some advice on how to tweak this thing into an end game beast.

-How are you running 2 golems?

-I was running phase run before, it's so nice. Would like to get it back into the build somehow.

-Interesting choice with Devoto's... the build really could use that move
speed and chaos res is a nice bonus.

-I find it hard to drop my CWDT-Steelskin setup, but I know I'm missing out on some juicy Arcane Cloak - lvl 20 Arcane Surge action. I guess you just have to get used to hard casting your guard skill? I hate getting blasted by a big pack of monsters and having to stop to play piano flask AND also hit my guard skill at the same time, sometimes it's too late by the time I can press it.

-How do you feel about a Shield Charge - Fortify setup? Would be nice to have that fortify buff, but not being able to dash over ledges just sounds so clunky.

Any chance you could link us your passive tree and/or a pob link?

Thank you for dropping by and adding some good feedback to the guide!
Happy Zapping!

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